Recap: “A point is a point”

Coming off just two days rest rather than the normal three, Minnesota United would have a tough task on hand. With Fragapane, Hansen, and Lod out three of the Loons primary attacking pieces we’re now out of the mix. The combination of the two led Heath to shift from the usual 4-2-3-1 to his backup 4-3-3 formation.

With Reynoso, Hunou, and Finlay up top then Dotson, Trapp, and Gregus in the midfield Heath placed his best options on the pitch. Backing them up would be DJ Taylor (replacing Gasar), Dibassy, Kallman, and Metanire along with Miller in goal.

Things didn’t start too hot for Minnesota as the Loons allowed a goal, specifically an own goal after the ball deflected off Bakaye Dibassy, giving the San Jose Earthquakes and early lead.

Not even 10 minutes later though, the Loons got a massive lucky break. A bad tackle from the Earthquakes’ Nathan Cardoso on the aforementioned Dibassy was initially ruled a yellow card by referee Victor Rivas. However after Rivas reviewed the VAR footage it was then deemed to be red card, sending the ‘Quakes down a man for 70 minutes.

This paid dividends almost immediately as a minute later MNUFC would use some beautiful passing to setup Wil Trapp for the match tying goal.

After starting off on the front foot in the first half the Loons would slowly taper off in intensity. This slowly killed any momentum Minnesota had left and nearly let San Jose take the lead again. But even with 15 shots, only three made it on goal and MNUFC ended the night right where they had been in the 22nd minute.

Minnesota United will play one more time this week, on Saturday afternoon as they play host to Sporting Kansas City at Allianz Field. The 2:30 PM kickoff will see the rivalry match shown live on ESPN (English) and ESPN Deportes (Spanish).